WASHINGTON - Senators Bob Casey and Al Franken and Representatives Jared Polis andLinda Sanchez were joined by singer Clay Aiken, Dancing with the Stars' Louis Van Amstel, and Sirdeaner Walker and Tammy Aaberg, two mothers who lost their sons to suicide after they faced in-school bullying, to stress the importance of two bills that address the bullying and harassment of students in schools.

Clay Aiken, known to many as an American Idol star, is also a father and a former special education teacher who feels strongly about enacting specific anti-bullying protections so that future generations have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. "I never had someone who told me that it was ok to be different...that it was okay to be me. What I did hear was that it would get better once I was out of high school...that things would get better. But from where I sat, I could not possibly believe that to be true. We need federal leadership from Congress to encourage all states and districts and each and every school to create safe learning environments where all students can learn and succeed."

This is such an important issue that it should be of national concern. Bullying has been going on for years. Not only in schools but on the internet - an unknown behind a computer. What is it going to take for more people to take notice and get involved? These kids that have taken their own lives should not have felt that this was the only solution. Many bullies do not think that they are the ones that are being addressed. They feel that it is always the other guy, that the rules don't apply to them. That they did nothing wrong.

I do hope that the bills being advocated today will pass and not another teen, child or young adult feel that suicide is the only way out.